Liquid-administering apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M .4. w ,0, u m a v w .4 WM/ a WWWWfl/MWZ Feb. 11,1941.

Filed March 2, 1940 Feb. 11, 1941. v H. o. TROTTER 2,231,418

LIQUID-ADMINISTERING APPARATUS Filed March 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2- $11010 d 750/752, BY w v 5/! WW [TTOP/YE r INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IJQUID-ADMINISTERINGAPPARATUS Harold 0. Trotter, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Eli Lillyand Company, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana ApplicationMarch 2, 1940, Serial No. 321,870

4 Claims. (Cl. 128-214) 5 sure for containers for intravenouslyadministrable solutions, such for instance as dextrose or salt or gumsalt (such as acacia) solutions; and to provide in connection therewitha hollow supply needle by which the solution may be withdrawn from thecontainer and administered intravenously with substantial freedom fromdanger of contamination and which is 'so' related to the closure thatwhen inserted therein'itwill stay in place against accidental, removaland will pro- 15 vide a leak-proof joint.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention. In those drawings,Fig. 1 is a schematic view of the entire apparatus for the intravenousadministration of the desired liquid, with the 20 liquid container inthe inverted position which it has when in use for supplying liquid;Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmental view, mainly in section but with therubber stopper partly in elevation, of the upper end of the liquidcontainer, in upright po- 25 sition, showing the container mouth and oneform of closure means embodying my invention, with the closure complete;Fig. 3 is a fragmental view generally similar to Fig. 2, but wholly insection, and showing the container mouth and the 30 closure of Fig. 1after the protecting device has 35 separately in position one above,another in the order in which they are put together; and Figs. 5, 6,and 7 are fragmental sectional views showing modified forms of holdingmeans'of the closure assembly.

The liquid container I0, shown inverted in Fig. 1 and upright in theother figures, may contain any desired liquid N for intravenous ad-,ministration, such for instance as .a dextrose solution or a saltsolution or a gum salt (acacia) solution; the nature of the solution tobe administered is no part of my invention. The container I0 is usuallyin the 'form of a bottle, which at one end has a neck l2 terminating inan open mouth for receiving the closure mechanism.

50 Near the end remote from its mouth the bottle 55 supported ininverted position from a. bracket 1 l during the process ofadministering the solution.

, The open mouth of the container neck |2 receives a rubber stopper 20,which is put in place after the container has been filled with thedesired liquid. This rubber stopper 20 is of 5 peculiar construction. Ithas at least one hole 2 I, and desirably two holes 2|, which extend fromits lower face well uptoward its upper face, where each hole isdesirably provided with a transverse shoulder 22 extending inwardlytoward the center line of the hole and from which a smaller hole-portion23 extends upward still further toward the upper face of the stopper butnot completely to that upper face. The upper end of each smallerhole-portion 23 is com- 'pletelgrclosed by a web 24 which lies justbelow the upper face of the stopper and is integral (of one piece). withthe body of the rubber stopper 20. stopper 20 is provided with adepression 25 which indicates the location of the hole beneath it.

Therubber stopper 20 fits within-the mouth of the container neck I 2,and at its upper peripheral edge it has a circumferential flange 30which overlies and'bears against the upper edge of the wall which formsthe container neck. While the rubber stopper can be held in place merelyby friction, due to its fit in the container mouth. I prefer to hold itin place by a ring 3|, preferably of sheetmetal, which has an inwardlyextending and generally fiat portion which overlies the stopper-flange30, and also has a skirt portion which extends down past the flange 30and past a bead 32 that is provided around the mouth of the containerneck l2. The ring 3| is put in place over the rubber stopper 20 afterthat stopper has been put into the container mouth. The skirt of thering 3| may have different forms. In the forms shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4,and 7, this skirt is unthreaded, and is crimped around and Above eachweb 24 the upper face of the under the bead 32 to hold the ring and therubber l stopper 20 firmly in place. In the forms shown in Figs. 5 and6, the skirt of the ring 3| is provided with screw threads whichco-operate with screw threads 33 on the exterior of the container neck I2. In normal use, the rubber stopper 20 and the ring 3| are neverremoved.

After the container has been closed by the rubber stopper 20, and therubber stopper has desirably been fastened in place by the ring 3|, aremovable protecting device is put in place over them. This removableprotecting device may take different. forms.

In the form of protecting device shown in Figs.

2, 4, and 5, a relatively rigid disk 35, conveniently of sheet metal, islaid over the upper face of the rubber stopper 26, and over the fiatportion of the ring 3! when that ring is used. The disk 65 isconveniently of about the same diameter as the flange 36. In Figs. 2 and4 the disk 361s held in place by a second sheet-metal ring 36,

which has an inwardly extending generally flat portion that extendsinward andoverlies the edge of the disk 35, and also has a skirt portionwhich fits over the skirt portion of the ring 3! and which is alsocrimped below the bead 32. The ring 36, however, is an easily breakablering. In the form shown in these figures, it has two parallel slots 3'5in its skirt portion, and two parallel slots 38 in its flat portion, toprovide between the slots a strip which may be easily torn out. Thatintervening strip between the slots 36 is continuous with an inwardlyextending tab or finger-clip 39 which lies fairly close against the topof the disk and which can be lifted with the fingers to provide a handleby which the strip may be torn loose from the remainder of the ring 36to break that ring and thus permit its easy removal from the container.When the ring 36 is thus removed, the disk 65 is released and may alsobe removed, to expose the upper surface of the rubber stopper 26, andthus to make accessible the two webs 26 which normally close the upperends of the holes 2!. But the ring 3! still remains in place.

In the modifications shown in Figs. 5, 6, and '7, the rubber stopper 26and the ring M are the same as has already been described, with thatring 3i held in place either by crimping (Fig. '7) or by screw threads(Figs. 5 and 6). But the protecting device is a screw-cap 66,-whichisput over the stopper 26 and ring at and is screwed into place. Thescrew threads of the screw-cap 66 may co-operate with screw threads 6|provided on the exterior of the container neck l2 below the head 32 inFig. '1 or below and larger "than the screw threads 33 in Fig. 6; or itmay cooperate with screw-threads on the outside of the screw-threadedring 6| of Fig. 5, in which case the skirt of the ring 3| may beextended downward to provide a portion which may be gripped by the thumband fingers to prevent the ring 3| from unscrewing when the screw-cap 60is unscrewed. When the screw-cap 66 is used, it may be a complete capwith no hole through its fiat top portion, as in the structures of Figs.6 and '7, in which case no separate disk 35 need be provided to overliethe stopper 20 and ring 3!; or it may be of annular form, with a centralhole through it, as in the structure of Fig. 5, in which case theseparate disk 35 is needed. In any of these modifications, of Figs. 5,6, and 7, the screwvcap 66 is unscrewed and removed, and the disk 35 isalso removed if it is present, to give access to the top of the rubberstopper 26 and to the webs 26.

In any of the variations of my invention, the container l6 and itscontents are made suitably sterile. For instance, the contents of thecontainer I6 may be sterilized before being put into the container, asby sterilizing filtration or by heat, and the container l0 and all theparts that form the closure may be suitably sterilized before assemblyand carefully kept sterile during assembly; and/or the container l6 andits contents may be sterilized by heat after the assembly is complete.In either case, the ring 36 "or the screw-cap 40 will not be removeduntil it is desired to administer the contents of the container 56, sothat until then the upper surface of the rubber stopper 20 is protectedand kept sterile.

Also, in any of the variations of my invention, the ring 35 may beomitted; but if the ring 3i is used, as I prefer, it normally will neverbe re- 6 moved in use.

Although the upper surface of the rubber stopper 26 is exposed inpreparing for the administration of the liquid in the container ii), therubber stopper 20 is also never removed in use. In- 10 stead, theintegral rubber web or webs 24 of that stopper are punctured by specialhollow supply needles 50, one for each web 26. Each supply needle 56 isa tubular member cut obliquely at one end to form a puncturing point 5!,and provided at the other end with a bead or enlargement 52 forreceiving a rubber tube and holding it in place. Above the obliquecut-off portion which provides the puncturing point 5!, the tubularsupply needle 50 is flared to provide an en- 30 largement 53 which isslightly larger than the reduced-size hole portion 23 of the hole 2|,and which desirably has its upper end rounded as is clear from Fig. 3.Slightly higher on the tubular supply needle 50 is a second enlargement54, conveniently in the form of a substantially fiat circumferentialflange 54,-which by engaging the face of the rubber stopper limits thedistance the supply needle may be thrust therethrough.

The distance between the two enlargements 53 and 52 is desirably suchthat they may grip between them transverse faces of the rubber stopperaround the hole through which the supply needle extends. In thepreferred embodis5 ment illustrated, in which the shoulder 22 isprovided, that distance between the enlargements 53 and 54 is slightlyless than the distance between the shoulder 22 and the face of thedepression 25, so that by the resilient action of the rubber of thepunctured web 24 on the supply needle 40 50, either by the frictionalgrip of the web on the supply-needle stem or by direct action againstthe enlargement 54 or by both, after the supply needle has been thrustthrough the web 24, the enlargement 53 may be drawn tight against therubber corner between the shoulder 22 and the reduced-size holeextension 23, as is clear from Fig. 3. An effective seal is provided,both by that tight engagement and by the grip of the punctured web onthe stem of the supply needle.

When it is desired to administer the liquid contents of the containerHi, the ring 36 or screwcap is removed, and with it the disk 35 if oneis used, as has already been described, and two sterile supply needles50, are put in place through 5 the two webs 26. Rubber tubes 60 and 6|are attached to the two sterile supply needles 56, preferably prior totheir insertion through the stopper 26, by being slipped over the beadsor enlargements 52 thereof. The rubber tube 60 leads to an 60 air filter62, which may be simply a glass tube open at both ends and provided withan enlargement filled with sterile cotton or glass wool, which airfilter 62 is conveniently suppo'rtedmin spring fingers 63 provided onthe suspending ring 13. The rubber tube 6|, which may be provided with atube clamp 64 for controlling the liquid flow through it, leads to aglass drip-tube 65 (conveniently a "Murphy drip) of standardconstruction, and a rubber tube 66, which may also be provided with atubeclamp 61 to control the liquid flow through it, leads from the lowerend of the drip-. tube 65 to one end of a glass needle-adapterobservation tube 68, to the other end of which is attached thehypodermic needle 69 which is inserted 16 into the patients vein for thedesired intravenous administration. The parts 64 to 69 are of wellknownconstruction The flow of the liquid from the container l0 into thepatients vein by way of the hypodermic needle 69 is controlled by thetube clamps 64 and/or 61, and the physician is informed as to theoperation by inspection of the drip-tube B5 and the needle-adapterobservation tube 68.

I claim as my invention:

1. A container-closure for containers of liquids for intravenousadministration, comprising a rubber stopper which has a hole extendingfrom its lower face almost to its upper face and which also has betweenthe end of the hole and said upper face an integral web which closes thehole-end,

said hole having a smaller portion near said web and a larger portionremote from said Web to provide a shoulder between said hole portions,in combination with a tubular supply needle which has one endlpointedfor puncturing and insertion through said web and also has two spacedenlargements which on insertion of the supply needle through said webgrip between them the shoulder within the hole closed by said web andthe upper face of the rubber stopper.

2. A container-closure for containers of liquids for puncturing andinsertion through one of said webs and also has two spaced enlargementswhich on insertion of that supply needle through 0.18 of said webs gripbetween them the shoulder within the hole closed by said web and theupper face of said rubber stopper.

3. A container-closure for containers of liquids for intravenousadministration, comprising a rub ber stopper which has a hole extendingfrom its lower face almost to its upper face and which also has betweenthe end of the hole and said upper face an integral web which closes theholeend, which rubber stopper also has transverse faces around the holeabove and below said web, in combination with a tubular supply needlewhich has one end pointed for puncturing and insertion through the webof said rubber stopper and also has two spaced enlargements which onsuch insertion of the supply needle through said web grip saidtransverse faces between them.

4. A container-closure for containers of liquids for intravenousadministration, comprising a rubber stopper which has two holes eachextending from its lower face almost to its upper face and which alsohas between the end of each hole and said upper. face an integral webwhich closes the hole-end, which rubber stopper also'has transversefaces around each hole above and below said

